the effects of familiarity and assertions of the rpt violator on internal auditors’ credibility and reporting judgments

A 2×2 full factorial experiment is designed by manipulating participants’ exposure to the positive behavioral information of a chief financial officer (cfo) as a violator of related party transactions (rpt) (high versus low exposure) and his related assertions (combined versus denial assertion). the credibility and reporting judgments of internal auditors can be influenced by these manipulated variables in accordance with the mere exposure effect and the benefit of the doubt. this study included 80 iranian internal auditors as participants. the results suggest that exposure to the violator’s positive behavioral information enhances internal auditors’ perceived credibility of the violator, leading to a decreased likelihood of reporting the rpt. furthermore, the findings demonstrate that when internal auditors are exposed to the positive behavioral information of the rpt violator, the combined assertion of the rpt violator reduces the probability of reporting the rpt by internal auditors. the results underscore the significance of professional judgment and skepticism among internal auditors.